Pen:

Tom presents I have a HUNCH you don’t know much about Pens… posted at Goldspot Pens. Review of how the heralded “recommendation engine” Hunch performs when searching for a pen.

David Garrett presents Noodler’s Kung Te-Cheng ink review posted at seize the dave.

Patrick Sikes presents Blue Hawaii – A new line of handcrafted pens inspired by Hawaii posted at The Norsk Woodshop. Preview of a new line of pens being developed by The Norsk Woodshop.

Julie (Okami) presents Featured Pen – Waterman’s Ink-Vue posted at Whatever.

Margana presents One Of Those New Noodler’s Pens posted at An Inkophile’s Blog. Yes, that’s right. Noodler’s Ink has crossed over and released two fountain pens. Of course, I just had to try one of them.

Clement Dionglay presents Fountain Pen Review: Schneider iD posted at Rants of The Archer.

Cheryl presents Uni-ball Jetstream Color Ballpoint Pen Review posted at Writer’s Bloc Blog.

Pencil:

Peter Warrior presents Stunning Masterpieces Carved on the Tip of a Pencil! posted at Tiger Pens Blog.

Clement Dionglay presents Take me to your leadholders. posted at Leigh Reyes. My Life As a Verb..

Paper:

David Garrett presents Quo Vadis Habana review posted at seize the dave.

Heather presents Rhodia Webnotebook posted at A Penchant for Paper.

Clement Dionglay presents Notebook Review: Reecovid Notepad posted at Rants of The Archer.

Nifty Notebook presents Field Notes 50 States Boxed Set posted at Notebook Stories.

travisthetrout presents How to: Keep a Goal Journal: the notebook posted at Notes in a Book.

Sophia Verzosa presents Rhodia Webnotebook version 3: even better than before + Giveaway! posted at For love and idleness. The giveaway is over, but still a great write up.

Cynthia Niklas presents Contact Keeper Notebook Review and Giveaway posted at Journaling Arts.

Wrapping it all up:

Thanks so much to everyone who submitted a blog post for this month’s carnival of pen, pencil, and paper, and please continue to keep on submitting entries going forward.  Next month, Cynthia from Journaling Arts will be hosting the Carnival, so submit your posts here, and many thanks to Nifty from Notebook Stories for getting this all set up!

© 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Happy Labor Day to all, there are some pretty good deals and sales from some of your favorite places to get office supplies including eBags, Goldspot, Organize.com, Barnes and Noble, and Levenger.  Check out all the office supply deals below, and let us know what other good deals are out there that I might have missed.

eBags has a Labor Day Sale that gets you free shipping and 20% off all orders over $75, great for that new back to school backpack or bag.  Coupon Code is: COMJLDSALE Certain brands are restricted and the offer ends Monday Sept. 6th.

Goldspot Luxury Gifts has some popular brands of pens including Pelikan, Cross, and Waterman on sale for up to 60% off.

Organize.com is offering $5 off orders of $50 or more, $10 off orders of $75 or more, and $20 off orders of $125 or more.

Save up to 45% on back to school items at Barnes and Noble

Use the Levenger Discount Code SAVEBIG8 to get 15% off your net Levenger order of $100 or more.

© 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Revisiting the Vivo Triple Gel

Not too long ago, I reviewed the Vivo Triple Gel Ink Pen, and it did not fare so well when I did my usual writing samples with it.  I was lucky enough to be contacted shortly after that by one of the representatives from Vivo, who explained what he thought might have been the reason for my poor writing experience with the pens.  By looking at the photo from my original review (see below) he was able to determine that the small wax ball that is usually found on the tip of a gel ink pen was probably either missing, or damaged on the pens that I originally purchased.  The way he was able to tell this was that the ink in the barrel was actually much lower than it should have been, leading him to believe that it had evaporated and probably started to dry up inside the pen.

Notice how low the ink is inside the barrel of the pen compared to the photo above.

Notice how low the ink is in the photo above as compared to the first photo.  The proper ink level should be just below the end of the clip as it is in the first photo.  Once the folks at Vivo explained this to me, I was open to giving the pens another shot, and they were kind enough to send over some for me to try out.  The pen in the first photo is one of the many they sent over to me, and you can really see the difference between the ink level on that one, and the photo just above that is one of the pens from my original review.

Old and New Writing Sample of the Vivo Triple Gel Ink Pen

The top half of the writing sample above is actually from my original review, and the bottom half was written with the new pen.  I think the difference is pretty clear, showing that the new pen really writes well and does not show any of the splotchy skipping tendencies that the old one did.  After using the pen for a few weeks on and off, I was impressed by how different it was from my original test pen, and in a very good way.  I think this is probably my first official reversal of opinion on a product that I’ve tested here, and I think that for the price, this pen definitely is a good option, so have a look at it here on Amazon.com if you are looking for some new pens.

As for the giveaway, I’ll keep it pretty simple, there will be two winners who will each get two packs of two pens, for a total of 4 pens for two different people.  This will be open to U.S.residents only, and here is how you can have two chances to enter and win:

1. Leave a comment on this post for your first entry.

2. Sign up for the OfficeSupplyGeek newsletter and monthly giveaway.  Once you do that (dont forget that you will get an email with a link that you have to click on to confirm you have signed up) come back here and leave a second comment to let us know you are signed up for the newsletter.  If you are already signed up, just leave a second comment stating that you are already signed up.

You will have until 11:59 PM Eastern on September 10th to leave your two comments

I will pick the winner using the Random.org random number generator, and the winner will be announced on the morning of September 12th.

Thanks, and good luck!

© 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

The Pull-and-Pop Paper Clip Dispenser

Friend to Office Supply Geeks everywhere, and accomplished Inventor, Jared Joyce has come up with yet another great idea that will help organize your office supplies and make you the envy of  your office mates.  His “Pull-and-Pop” Paper Clip Dispenser brings organization to a situation that is usually an unwieldy mess.  With this latest invention, Jared has transformed the traditionally messy magnetic paper clip dispenser into a “one at a time” organized and visually appealing addition for your desk.

A specially designed magazine of paper clips (kind of like a sleeve of staples) feeds into the bottom of this unit, and dispenses paper clips on an as needed basis.  When you take the one that is presented, it triggers a mechanism to dispense your next clip.  I know I’ve never had the desire to even own a paper clip dispenser just because they usually look so messy, but this item totally eliminates the eyesore that I typically associate with paper clip dispensers, and it dos it in a way that just looks fantastic and professional.  My first glance at the photos above reminded me of something that I would see in a modern art museum because of how clean and simple the lines are, but on top of all of that, this paper clip dispenser really brings a new twist to a tired old product.

As with many of Jared’s other inventions, he is promoting this on the social product development site, Quirky.  If you like the looks of this product, head on over to the product page on quirky where you can give suggestions and feedback on each step of the product development process and in turn you can be rewarded with “influence” points that let you earn a percent of the product’s future revenue.  Once you have checked out this cool paper clip dispenser on Quirky.com, don’t forget to stop by Jared’s Twitter and Facebook pages as well.  Many thanks to Jared Joyce for sharing his great new products with us.  Hopefully each of you can help support him on Quirky with your votes and comments, and make this and his other product come to market.

© 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

© 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

The Magnetic Dry Erase Board from Three by Three Seattle

I’m a big fan of the products that come from my friends over at Three by Three Seattle, they do a great job with their innovative and stylish designs of some really great quality office products.  In the past I’ve reviewed their Dry Erase Bamboo Entry Butler which I loved so much that I made it part of my Editors Choice Awards for last year, and this Magnetic Dry Erase Board is a similar product but with enough differences that it warrants taking a look at.  Also, big thanks to Gwen for sending this sample over to me for review.

Magnetic Dry Erase Board by Three by Three Seattle

This magnetic dry erase board from Three by Three Seattle measures 4″ x 11″ and is really thin, but not in a “cheap” way because it is very sturdy as well.  It is great to keep in an easy to reach place for quick lists or notes.  The board has two large magnets on the back that will help hold it on any large magnetic surface like a refrigerator, metal desk, or metal cubicle wall or cabinet.  It is kind of hard to see unless you click on the image above to see the larger version, but it also comes with three small (but very strong) circular magnets to hold messages to it.  Just to be clear, there are two magnetic components to this dry erase board, first is that the back of it has magnets for mounting purposes, and second is that the surface itself is metal and magnetized so you can stick stuff to the front of it.

The dry erase marker that comes with this is also magnetized and sticks to the board surface.  I prefer using my own dry erase markers, like the thin Expo retractable ones, although they don’t have a magnetic cap to stick the dry erase board like this one.  This is a great little dry erase board, and as with all the stuff from Three by Three the quality is outstanding, they are one of those companies that do “simple” and do it really well.

In addition to being available at Amazon, Three by Three also offers these for sale at their own webstore so check them out here where they also have a few different colors to pick from.  I would also suggest keeping tabs on Three by Three on Twitter and Facebook because I’ve seen them do some contests and its a great way to be on top of their new product releases too.

© 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Just looks like an ordinary Post-it notes dispenser, right? Well, not really.

This fairly innocuous looking box of Post-it Notes is part of the Post-it “grip” series that I’ve reviewed in the past they are the Post-it notes Grip Pop-up Dispenser.  Back in April of last year, I took a look at one of the other items in this line, which was the desk set of Post-it flags with the grip, which I thought was really cool and useful.

In addition to being in the fancy “grip” dispenser, these Post-it notes are also recycled, made up of 100% recycled paper, 30% of which is post-consumer.  The Post-it notes inside the dispenser are the accordion-style that are attached at alternating ends so they dispense properly.  Now the cool part is the part of the dispenser that you have not seen yet on the bottom of the box.

Post-it Notes Grip Pop-Up Dispenser Base with the Rubber Gripper

On the bottom of the dispenser you see there is a white rubber diaphragm, which is what makes the dispenser stick to any smooth, clean, flat surface.  Now when you have the need to grab a Post-it note, the grip dispenser box keeps it attached to your desk as you pull one out.  The cool thing about the Post-it grip stuff is that although they attach to a flat surface, they also slide on it without detaching, so you can quickly move the dispenser to different spots on your desk.  Overall this is a great little product, as are any of the Post-it products with the grip functionality.

© 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Zebra M-701 Stainless Steel Mechanical Pencil

The nice folks over at Zebra offered me a few items to take a look at recently, and one of them was this really cool .7mm stainless steel Zebra M-701 mechanical pencil.  I think I’ve made it clear that I’m not a big fan of writing with a pencil, so I’ll keep this focused on the pencil itself and my feelings about pencils in general.

Zebra M-701 Mechanical Pencil Clip

As I already said, this mechanical pencil is made of stainless steel, or as the Zebra product page says “Designer steel from clip to tip,” very catchy.  It isn’t just the look of the stainless steel that makes this mechanical pencil so nice, the build quality and construction are also top-notch.  There do not appear to be any gaps, ill-fitting parts, or loosely attached parts.  It feels like a very solid writing implement when you hold it in your hand.  Since we are zoomed in on the clip up there too, I thought Id mention how I really like the subtle way hat the clip has the Zebra brand name and the model name imprinted,  I hate when companies go overboard with the branding and their product looks like a giant billboard.

Zebra M-701 Stainless Steel Pencil Grip

Moving on to the grip you can see that the stainless steel body has a knurled section designed to provide lots of friction for the grip area, giving you a good deal of control while you write  Initially I was a little bit worried that this section might be a bit rough to the touch, but it definitely was not.  It is just rough enough to be grippy, but not so rough that its uncomfortable to write with .  As I was writing with the pencil I was impressed by its overall balance and weight.  Considering it is made of stainless steel, it’s not overly heavy, but it certainly has a nice hefty feel to it.  Like most other mechanical pencils, the eraser on this one is stored under a metal cap on top of the plunger that you use to advance the lead.  The plunger has a nice rigid and responsive feel when you click on it to advance the lead, and it does its job of keeping your eraser handy at all times.

Zebra M701 Writing Sample

A writing sample with a mechanical pencil isn’t as telling as when I do a writing sample with a pen because its more a reflection of the lead itself which can be changed.  Overall though the pencil wrote well, and I had no issues.  Advancing the lead with the plunger worked well, and as you can tell from the photo above, the eraser dutifully did its job when called upon.  I think that the Stainless Steel Zebra M-701 Mechanical Pencil is a very solid choice for anyone looking for something durable, sturdy, and just plain cool looking.  You can also check out the review by Brad over at The Pen Addict for his expert opinion on this great little mechanical pencil.  Thanks again to the folks at Zebra for providing this nice sample of the Zebra M-701 for review, as it was a pleasure to get to try it out.

© 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Moleskine Folio Professional Printable Paper for Inkjet and Laser Printers

Back in May when I attended the National Stationery Show, I came across lots of new products from Moleskine, including this Moleskine Folio Professional Printable Paper (via Amazon) for Inkjet and Laser Printers.   In this review we will take a look at how it compares to standard printer paper when used with an inkjet printer because in all honesty I don’t think I’ve ever had problems finding paper that works well with laser printers.  The paper is 100g ivory paper with rounded edges, and it comes in the above pictured package of 50 sheets.

Inkjet Printing Sample on Standard Printer Paper

The first scan you see above is of the first page of their press release announcing the Folio Professional line, and it is printed on standard printer paper.  Below you will see the same page of the press release printed using the Moleskine Folio Professional Printable Paper.  Click on each photo and you should be able to see a noticeable difference between the two,and for the record these were scanned and printed using my Epson Artisan 800 Series which I REALLY like.  I found that the printed images on the Moleskine paper actually showed more white gaps where the paper was showing through, especially in the images of the black covers where the black on white/ivory can be much more noticeable.  When it came to the text, the text didn’t suffer the same spotty appearance, however it did however show up fuzzier than that on the standard printer paper.

Inkjet Printing Sample on the Moleskine Folio Professional Printer Paper

There have been plenty reports of Moleskine paper not handling lots of different inks well, so I can’t say that the performance here was a surprise, however I would have expected better testing on their end to see how well this stuff really worked since they advertise it being for inkjets as well as laser printers.  My guess is that it will print just fine with laser printers since they tend to print well on almost any medium.  One last scan below shows a zoomed in side by side comparison of the same two sections of the press release.  For the record, when I printed the sheets of paper I was very careful to make sure the settings were the same, I printed with the setting for “plain white” paper with “images and text” and alternated the Moleskine Folio Printable Paper with regular paper and printed 4 copies.  Both of the standard pages and both of the Moleskine pages were consistently good/bad when compared to each other.

Moleskine Folio Printable Paper (left) vs Regular Printer Paper (right)

You really don’t even have to click on the image above to see the difference, you can see the grainy look on the black covers pretty easily.  Go ahead and click on the picture though for the larger view and you will really see the difference between printing on this paper and your run of the mill every day paper.  I selected this portion of the press release because it incorporated text, photography, and also straight lines to compare, and you can see that they all have their issues on the Moleskine paper.  Maybe this paper is good, but is really better suited for a laser printer, or less important things using an inkjet printer…although I don’t know who would spend about $11 per pack for 50 sheets to print something less important.  Visually its nice looking paper though, the ivory color and rounded edges give it a slightly nicer look than regular paper, but I like to actually print on my paper rather than just look at it.

© 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Our winner of the $100 gift card from OfficeMax is Jerry Gilreath with his comment/tweet shown above.  Jerry just needs to email us his mailing address using the About/Contact tab at the top of the page and send over his mailing address, oh and also just leave a comment on this thread so everyone knows he claimed his prize.

Thanks again to OfficeMax for providing the opportunity for this generous gift for one of our readers here, and below is the screenshot from Random.org showing the selection of the winning number.

© 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.